Let’s talk about the crawfish in the room. Those mudbugs are ex-pen-sive! Abnormally hot temperature, close to half the expected total rainfall and a hard winter freeze strained this year’s crawfish harvest dramatically. According to an LSU analysis, the usual 200 million-pound annual catch is cut by about half. Prices are starting to come down from the $10.99 a pound that marked the beginning of Lent, which is some good news. In mid-March, prices hovered between $5.99 and $8.99 a pound. But the truth is, New Orleanians will cut back on some things, but give up crawfish? Hell no.
Because of the unpredictable season, it’s best to call ahead, especially if you’re planning a boil at home and need a few sacks. These are places that can be counted on to have crawfish whenever they’re open if it’s in season. Neighborhood bars are another place to eat boiled seafood, weekends at Oscar’s in Arabi and Tuesdays at Cosimo’s in the Quarter. The Broadside offers free music and crawfish for sale from Crawfish King every weekend though the end of April, doors at 1 p.m.,, music from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
If we missing somewhere to get boiled crawfish right now, send us a tip.
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